The big picture: It was inspired by one of the most famous public displays of affection ever, but life for this 25-foot kissing couple has not been a total love fest. Since being loaned to San Diego in 2007, sculptor J. Seward Johnson’s tribute to Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famed “V-J Day in Times Square” photo has been the subject of hot and cold running commentary, feted for its supersized depiction of a great American moment and flayed for being a big artistic joke.

Be it landmark or eyesore, “Unconditional Surrender” became officially ours earlier this week, when the San Diego Unified Port District Board voted to accept a painted bronze version to replace the current foam-urethane statue, even as the port’s own public-art committee gave the statue its stamp of aesthetic disapproval.

We know the statue is public, but is it art? I paid the controversial couple a visit earlier this week to see if I could find out.

Whole lotta hug: Mere photos cannot capture the effect of pulling into the Tuna Harbor Park parking lot and seeing this massive creation towering over trees, people and the roof of the Fish Market restaurant. Both ridiculously large and weirdly comforting, this statue of a sailor sweeping a nurse off her feet is like a cross between the movie poster for “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,” a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon and a Bob’s Big Boy statue. You will be dumbstruck at first sight, I promise.

America’s Finest City’s Wackiest Photo Opp: One of the arguments in favor of this symbol of V-J Day jubilance is that people love it. While I can’t vouch for their motivations, I can say that people really love having their picture taken in front of it. Preferably while looking up the nurse’s dress.

From Greatest Generation types in USS Midway baseball caps to young folks flashing peace signs, “Unconditional Surrender” was an equal-opportunity photo opp for a steady stream of sincere aficionados and ironic hipsters alike. The looking-up-the-skirt pose appears to be the most popular (even though there is nothing to see up there), followed by the re-enacting-the-pose pose. Although popular is not always the same thing as appreciated.

“Are we really going to do this?” one woman asked her photo partner as he bent her back for “The Kiss” kiss. Oh yes, they were. Danger, awkward Facebook photo dead ahead!

Beauty and the beholder: Another argument in support of “Unconditional Surrender” is that the image is dear to the hearts of many Americans. The statue is way too big and cartoony to make me feel much of anything, but Kay Straney felt enough for both of us.

“When I walked up, the first thing I noticed was the way his arm is behind her neck, like he is supporting her,” said Straney, a grandmother from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. “She’s a nurse, and she helps people, and he just came from battle where he helped people. I just love it.”

The verdict: Like the nearby installation showing a statue of Bob Hope performing in front of statues of 15 military men and women, “Unconditional Surrender” is less a piece of thought-provoking art than a get-a-load-of-this attraction. And you have to admit that it is very good at what it does.

“It’s probably cheesy to say this,” said Ben Madrid, who was visiting from El Paso with his wife and three young children, “but the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this was, ‘It’s awesome.’ ”